Pradhan says WB isn't willing to raise employability of students, attacks over NEP
India Today
Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan questioned the 'political reasons' behind WB's resistance towards NEP and said that the state wasn't willing to raise the employability of its students.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan blasted the West Bengal administration on Sunday for opposing the New Education Policy, which was unveiled in 2020, and wondered if it was against the articles that increase students' employability.
Pradhan, who also questioned whether the resistance was motivated by "political reasons," defended the NEP, which has been criticised by numerous non-Hindi-speaking state administrations, by stating that it prioritised local languages equally.
The West Bengal administration has stated that it opposes the NEP, arguing that it aims to impose Hindi and change curriculum in the name of consistency, which is in violation of federalism.
The government further claims that the NEP is attempting to centralise the entire higher education system, obliterating the current structure that allows universities to develop their own syllabus.
Pradhan said, “It (NEP) was done in a spirit of consultative mechanism in a scientific manner. Does West Bengal oppose that very spirit? Are they opposed to a committee helmed by a scientist like K Kasturirangan for reasons other than academics?”
The education minister, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an event at a major hotel, stated that most state governments, regardless of their political leanings, were not opposed to the NEP.
“Local language is given utmost importance in the NEP. Does this government look at things in a different way? Doesn’t the Bengal government wish to raise employability of its people? NEP 2020 stands for knowledge-based employability,” Pradhan, a BJP leader, said, as per PTI.
